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August 25, 2026

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China warns US not to interfere with Iran trade: What to know

China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing was firmly opposed to what it called “illegal unilateral sanctions” and would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its rights.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent addresses the audience during opening remarks at the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism at the State Department on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Bessent spoke alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as they discussed the rise of far-left political terrorism as a transnational threat. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

In 'warning shot,' US threatens sanctions on Iran’s trading partners

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries were given "defined timelines" to halt business with Iran or face US sanctions.

Latest News

Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Caught in the middle, Oman shrugs off Trump's latest Iran threat

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 03: Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, speaks to the media after the first session of the murder trial outside the Caglayan Court House on July 03, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Twenty Saudi nationals went on trial in absentia over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in 2018. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee sues Mohammed bin Salman in US court

More than two dozen Saudis are named in the lawsuit seeking accountability for Jamal Khashoggi's "ruthless torture and murder."

MILWAUKEE, WI - AUGUST 19: In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the virtual convention on August 19, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images)

Egypt's pro-state media reignites Clinton email controversy as US vote nears

With the US presidential election just weeks away, Egyptian media outlets loyal to the government have dragged the controversy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails back into the headlines.

US to remove Sudan from state sponsors of terror list

President Donald Trump announced the plan to de-list Sudan on Monday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference to announce the Trump administration's restoration of sanctions on Iran, on September 21, 2020, at the US State Department in Washington,DC, as US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin looks on. - The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions on Iran's defense ministry and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro under a UN authority which is widely contested. "For nearly two years corrupt officials in Tehran have worked with the illegitimate

Iran arms embargo ends with warnings from Washington

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to sanction countries that engage in weapons trade with Iran.

Debra Tice, the mother of missing journalist Austin Tice, addresses a press conference January 27, 2020 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. - Tice, who spent 83 days in Syria looking for her son, reiterated the belief that he remains alive and is being held, and advocated for his release. Austin, disappeared in Syria in 2012. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

White House official traveled to Syria for secret hostage talks

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Kash Patel traveled to Damascus in an effort to secure the release of Americans hostages including Austin Tice and Majd Kamalmaz.

Intel: Congress urges Egypt’s president to release political prisoners

More than 50 US members of the US Congress called for Egyptian journalists, lawyers and rights activists to be released in a letter addressed directly to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (back) attends a signing ceremony between the head of the Israeli delegation, National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat (L) and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani (C), in the Bahraini capital Manama on October 18, 2020. - Israel and Bahrain cemented a deal officially establishing relations and signed several memorandums of understanding, further opening up the wealthy Gulf region to the Jewish state. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP) (Photo by MAZEN MAH

Israel, Bahrain establish diplomatic relations at a ceremony in Manama

Israel’s Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani signed yesterday a joint communique for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Supporters of Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi paramilitary network dominated by Iran-backed factions, wave the Hashed flag as they stand under the national flag during a protest denouncing comments made by Kurdish ex-minister and to show their support to the paramilitary network in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on October 17, 2020. - Hashed supporters burned down the main Kurdish party's headquarters in Baghdad after criticism from a Iraq's Former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Hundreds of Hashed demonstrat

Iraqi militias defy government, expand networks and pressure

Militias in Iraq are increasing their activities in response to the government's efforts to rein them in.

US drone strike kills two suspected al-Qaeda officials in Idlib

The strike is believed to have killed a former member of Huras al-Din's Shura Council and a security official.

Armenian-Americans hold signs and flags as they protest against the conflict between Azerbaijan and the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2020. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Thursday that Armenia would "defend" itself against Azerbaijan, appearing to show sympathy to one side over the fierce clashes. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo hopes Armenia can 'defend' itself from Azerbaijan

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said that Turkey was increasing the risk of more bloodshed.

Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden participates in an ABC News town hall event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on October 15, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden slams Trump's Iran policy at town hall

The Democratic presidential candidate also praised Trump's work on the UAE-Israel deal.

A man wrapped in a Trump campaign flag walks in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 11, 2020. - Israel has imposed some of the world's tightest restrictions to contain coronavirus, but that did not stop ultra-Orthodox Jews from hitting the streets to celebrate a treasured religious custom: drinking on Purim. Sometimes dubbed the "fun" Jewish holiday, Purim typically includes costumes and boisterous public celebrations marking a story dating from fourth-century Persi

Ahead of presidential elections, Israelis cheering for Trump

Israelis love US President Donald Trump — not only for his diplomatic gestures toward the country, but also for his informal, blunt style.